Drawn in Blood
by MYsasuke-kun
Summary: REWRITING! Temari's decided her life is worth it, but things change when Naruto's the one to find her in near death during a suicide attempt. Rated M for a good reason. Don't like? Don't read. Chapters 1-3 completely rewritten, so please read it again! Posting new chapters hopefully soon. Chapters 1&2 revised a bit. Chapter 4 out!
1. Memories

Okay, I've been actually working my way through my inbox and I've been seeing that I'm still getting followers and the occasional reviewer on this story. So I'm rewriting it, a little at a time, and hoping to get back in the game. Sorry about my random disappearance off the face of the earth. Just know a lot has gone on, but I hope I'm back!

This chapter has been completely rewritten. Please let me know what you guys think. Unless its some flame about the characters or the scenario. If that's the case, just don't read the damn thing. But if it's constructive critisicm, like pointing out something you think I could have done better, or even a grammatical, spelling or punctuation mistake I overlooked, or just to tell me if you like the rewrite or not, please feel free to review. I won't demand reviews, as I myself lately have become too lazy to do those unless I really really have something to say, but I can say pretty please and pray to Jashin-sama, can't I? Hope to hear from you guys. I'll start rewriting the next one now!

Also, if you want to PM me about what the hell I'm trying to prove or why I changed it so drastically, please do :)

**Sidenote:** Thanks to **purvy sage** for pointing a few things out to me. I have revised a couple scenes to make more sense, and I did add one or two things, toward the end. You'll find then in italics. I also may have tweaked a few sentences. Either way, nothing much changed. Much.

* * *

"_N-no, daddy! P-please s-stop!"_

Temari clenched her fist in anger at the memory.

"_Daddy, I-I don't… I DON'T LIKE THIS!"_

Her lip twitched, an instinctive snarl.

"_D-daddy, i-it h-h-hurt-ts. S-stop…"_

The rape her father had committed against her, when she was only five. If she remembered right, she had cried during a thunderstorm. Baki-sensei had comforted her, but her father, the Yondaime Kazekage, found out. So he punished her. She was "too old" to cry like a baby, and especially over something as trivial as a thunderstorm.

She was happy when the bastard was found dead in a hole in the middle of the desert. Her only regret was that it had been done at the will of Orochimaru, instead of at her own bare hands.

That wasn't the only time, just the first. He "punished" her several times after that, for complaining about her too early (and too hard, especially for a child her age) shinoubi training; for not being "strong _enough_", as he said she should be; and for being sympathetic. The last reason plays a large part as to why she was—as many would put it—a cold-hearted bitch. "Being sentimental is not something a shinoubi of my village should fall victim to," as her father had said, a direct quote, word for word exactly. There was more; these were only a handful of examples.

She knew now, thanks to Gaara and his research since becoming Kazekage, that there were reasons – almost logical reasons – behind his thinking. Sunagakure, thanks to the daimyo over the land of wind, was falling drastically into debt and was in danger of becoming extinct. So not only did he perform experiments such as creating a weapon by putting Shukaku into Gaara while he was still in the womb, he also did what he could to ensure that Sunagakure had strong shinoubi to defend the dying village. He did, in his eyes, what was necessary to make her stronger.

Thanks, Dad. Really. Thanks.

She didn't care the reasons behind it. She still wouldn't forgive him. Simple as that.

"_Wow, who is that girl? She's hot!"_

_Temari smiled smugly to herself at the" subtle" praise, but that smile was wiped clean off her face as the newcomer received his answer. _

"_That's Kaze no Temari. You're right, but don't even try your chances with her. She'll kill you without a second's though. Not only that, but her brother's the village demon. You don't want to take any chance of getting near him, either."_

Temari's fist clenched tighter, vaguely aware that her fingernails were digging into her palms. Because her "father" had needed her to be strong for the village, everyone was afraid to even come near her, let alone be friends with her. She had a couple friends at first, but that didn't last long. Soon she was transformed into the hard kunoichi her father wanted, and they were terrified of her too.

She could kill efficiently on the battlefield. Sometimes, though she hated to admit it, she even enjoyed it a little. She wondered if it was something in the blood, and that maybe Shukaku got more blame for Gaara's bloodlust than he was really accountable for.

Or maybe she was just crazy.

She wasn't to be sympathetic, caring. A shinoubi didn't care about the lives he took. A shinoubi was a heartless being, a mindless machine to kill on command.

Dating? Ha. That was a laugh. There were few she had any interest in. What would she want or even need in a man? Admittedly, she had almost even gone on a few dates in the past, just to kick back, unwind, maybe have some fun. But they were all outsiders to the sand. Every relationship ended before it even got a chance to think about becoming something, and not even to her own fault. They had all gotten word about her from the other shinoubi or villagers. They seemed to know her better than she knew herself.

She could walk around a corner and hear that the new rumor was she had killed another man by taking his head clean off with her fan. To this she would only smile to herself. If they only knew how she really killed, what it was really like to watch her on the battlefield.

She really found she cared no longer about relationships. She never gave any thought into marrying. Still didn't. But to be with someone? To feel loved, like she belonged with him? That was something that hadn't actually crossed her mind, until she met him.

She shook her head. Not him. Not now.

Instead, something else flashed before her eyes.

_Cold stucco brick bit into her back as she pressed as hard as she could into the wall. She was backed into a corner, no way out. Sand swirled before her dangerously, inching closer and closer playfully. She thought she was imagining it, but she swore the sand was bloody. _

"_Noo! Gaara, please! Stop!" the ten-year-old blonde cried as she watched the gold and red granules sweep toward her. He was toying with her. He knew exactly what he was capable of, what he could do to her, and he was toying, just to see what she would do. Just for amusement. _

"_Gaara! Please don't! I-I'm sorry! Please, I'm sorry!" She had no idea what – or if anything – she had done, but apologizing seemed like her only way out, even if she didn't need to. _

_The eight-year-old redhead didn't even flinch. He let his sand come closer to his older sister, all the while taking in the look on her face, reveling in it. He learned that nothing ever scared his sister. Nothing...except him. He terrified her. And he took pride in this, that pride being the only thing that saved her life. Even when Baki had showed up moments later with their brother, he wouldn't have stopped, not if he truly wanted to kill her. _

Gaara. He was great now, had been the past ten years, since his meeting with Naruto. Now he was the Godaime Kazekage, the youngest the village had so far, the youngest kage in shinoubi history.

But before. When she and Kankurou had been united with the "unloved" redhead, informed that he was their brother, raised away from them for reasons unknown, united only to form what was to be – and still was – the the strongest team in Sunagakure's existance.

Back then he made her blood run cold.

She still had nightmares about that night, and others, nightmares that were just about Gaara. Still, even now, those nightmares still plagued her. She couldn't understand why. Gaara wouldn't think about doing anything like that to her now, and she knew that. In fact, he would kill anyone who even thought about harming her, if he only knew about it.

"_Damn it you little bitch! What the fuck did I say?" _

_He slapped her again. She couldn't see who he was for the blindfold that was over her eyes, and she couldn't move to defend herself thanks to the shinoubi wire that bound her wrists together behind her back, but she recognized his voice. She wouldn't be able to forget that voice, not from hearing him whisper with the other shinoubi and villagers when her brother walked past, nor from hearing him leer at the demon child behind his back, and definitely not from the taunts he threw at her and Kankurou for sharing blood with such a monster. She knew exactly who he was, and stored this information away for later. He would regret this. Oh yes, he would regret it. _

_Despite her physical limitations, she felt everything. He repeatedly abused her, slaps and punches to the face, teeth digging into her breasts hard enough to break flesh and draw blood, the steel of a kunai cutting up her inner thighs, the way he slammed into her repeatedly, much too hard, causing her to bite her tongue back from the screams of pain. _

_She felt everything. _

"_I told you to fucking moan for me! You little whore." Slap. "Do as you're told!"_

_Temari was stubborn. She wouldn't give in, especially to someone like him. She learned quite a bit early on in life. Don't give in. Don't ever give in. Fight back, in whatever way you can. Don't listen to what they tell you, call you. Don't do as you're told. Don't give them the satisfaction of thinking they can control you. Make them think they underestimated you, that you're stronger than they thought you were, and they'll leave you alive. They'll leave you alive…to live with the humiliation._

_She was finally forced to cry out in pain when he slammed into her again, harder than he had already, much harder than she could handle. Blood trickled from her abused womanhood, and she felt as if something had torn. The cry of pain turned into a humorless laugh, earning her another smack to the side of her face, but she no longer felt it. _

_Just so long as you don't give in. Just so long as you don't give them what they want exactly, what they want to hear exactly, you'll be fine. You'll live._

She smiled at the next memory that flooded her senses. It was in all honesty one of the happiest moments of her life. The moment when she had hunted him down, and killed him slowly. She couldn't contain the satisfaction it made her feel. She heard a harsh laugh escape her lips, a laugh of genuine amusement.

The villagers, the local shinoubi had gone to her when they discovered she was the sister of the local demon. They tried to take their anger and their fears out on her, as they were too afraid to confront Gaara themselves. They would be killed before they even got near him. Naturally, his sister would be a much easier targer. She was weaker, more vulnerable, less dangerous, _human_.

That wasn't the case for long.

Then of course there was the violence away from Suna. To be honest, she found it less dangerous out there, so long as she was on her brother's good side. Besides, word had gotten around to avoid a certain Kaze no Temari, and she could easily take care of herself when she was out on her own and someone hadn't heeded the advice. And, as always, she was very thankful for the gift of paranoia.

Then there was that one, certain person. The one she trusted. The one she loved. Why the hell did he do it? It was his fault it happened again. His fault. Why did he—

She shook her head. She didn't want to think about him. Especially not now. She vowed to never say his name ever again, let alone think of him.

Temari suddenly trembled, trying to choke back her sob. She had nothing to hide; she was all alone. So why worry about crying?

She choked on another sob, and heard herself suddenly giggle harshly. It surprised her, but she didn't stop. She couldn't stop. She couldn't stop the grin that erupted upon her face, forcing her laughter deeper, harder. She was just to cackling when she had to bend over to catch her breath, tears streaming down her face, but the laughter continued. She gasped out fits of it through slowly burning lungs, but still she couldn't stop it, even as it pained her. As if she had just been told the funniest thing ever, and she just couldn't stop the laughter.

She didn't want to.

She couldn't take it anymore. These were the only memories she couldn't keep from resurfacing. She had managed to ignore everything else, hide behind these thoughts to forget the others, all the other memories of her childhood up to her age and life now, which had made her feel as if all her life's unexpected turns were somehow her fault. As if she had done something horrible in some past life, and she was being punished now for it. And as a _child_, no less. Every abuse and rape (first, committed by her own _father_, for god's sake!), the fear of her brother, the responsibility (she didn't even want to think about _that_ one now), the fear she felt everyone had of her, the fear she had toward _herself_, the disappointment, the failures, the loneliness, the murder and bloodshed (which felt truthfully felt was the least horrible of all), and much, much more than she would even want to think about.

She giggled again. Ironic, how death didn't bother her. She couldn't remember a time when it really had. She supposed watching her brother all that time jaded her somewhat early on. Now the cries on the battlefield, the blood, nothing like that bothered her. Not even anything she witnessed in the Fourth Great Ninja War. Definitely not anything she herself had done then.

Throughout the hour she spent reminiscing, her thoughts kept drifting to a shiny, silver little object strapped to her leg. The one that stayed on her thigh at all times, next to her downsized fan that technique and chakra used to enlarge during battle. Absently, her hand found its way traveling down her leg, moving the skirt of her simple kimono aside. It caressed the steel, kept warm by her body temperature. She ran her fingers up and down the ribbed handle, before they ventured further down and stroked the sharp edge. A hot burst of pain flooded her fingertip's senses, rushing up her arm, but on she went, rubbing the blade of the kunai. She was sure she was shredding her flesh, but didn't care. It seemed so distant. Even the small amount of blood that dripped down her thigh, soaked into her kimono, and dropped onto the floor didn't seem real. She stared at the tiny puddled drops blankly, watching as they soaked the carpet.

It called to her, promising to make things better, to help, to give her thoughts something more peaceful to dwell on. She knew it was stupid. It wouldn't solve her problems. But she found she didn't care. She just didn't care anymore. All that ran through her mind now was the blade. It was better than her own pathetic whimpers and screams.

Sure, she'd thought about it before. Pondered the thought somewhat. But things weren't really that bad, were they? They had never consumed her life like this before. Not this much. She had known to ignore something so stupid. After all, she wasn't a samurai who would commit sepukku over dishonor. She was a kunoichi, a proud and successful one at that. She never backed down, and considered suicide as an easy way out for the weak. And she wasn't weak. Far from it.

But now? She didn't care about anything now. And after what he pulled? What he had done, had caused? She couldn't think of any reasons good enough to go on. She knew she was probably just heartbroken over a stupid crush. But she really had cared for him. She'd like to think she really loved him. Almost a full month, a little over three weeks ago, and she still wasn't over it. She wasn't the first person in this situation. She knew that. It didn't make her feel any better.

Because of him these stupid thoughts were back in her head, because of him it happened again, and she couldn't forgive him for that. She couldn't. Because of that, because of him, she couldn't find a reason to keep living. All because of _him_.

She knew it was stupid to blame him, that everything wasn't his fault, not even what happened afterward; he was just the thick icing on the pretty little layered cake, but her mind told her otherwise. She felt that he was the reason behind her reminiscing, why all the things that she had blocked out out were coming back to her. She knew she couldn't blame him, but she felt a little better in doing so. Not much, just a little. Her mind kept lying to her, and she knew it. She knew it wasn't his fault. She knew nothing that she did to herself would make it better. She knew nothing would just "make it all go away". Still, she accepted it. She needed something, someone to blame after all. She believed her mind, the little lies it kept telling her. She knew they were lies and she welcomed them anyway. She felt like it was finally time to do something. If she ended things now, they would be over.

Over was a pretty permanent thing.

Suddenly she stood and ran to the bathroom, stumbling over her own two feet, tripping over the door frame. She had barely made it to the toilet when she collapsed on the floor, throwing the lid up just in time for the contents of her stomach – what little there was – rose to spill into the water. She knelt there for what felt like forever, retching even after all her body had to give was stomach acid. She realized she was crying again, but all she could do was choke around the dry heaves. Tears streamed down her face, though she made no move to wipe them. Still she heaved.

Finally her body seemed to calm down, her stomach and throat spasms slowing, eventually drawing to a close. She was laying on her side, staring at the floor. The shapes on the tile swam in her vision, and her mouth was dry, though as she coughed suddenly she realized a stream of saliva had run from her mouth, trailing onto the floor, wetting the skin of her cheek. She didn't care. She coughed again, painfully.

She started to snicker again. Quietly this time, not quite the maniacal cackling she'd given in to earlier, but close enough. It felt like broken glass inside her throat, but she giggled anyway, till it gave into another wave of coughing. She choked on the floor for minutes, willing her lungs to stop.

Eventually she found herself laying still on the floor, her only movements heavy breathing. Her body still wracked with pain, and her stomach clenched on her, causing her to bring her knees to her chest to ease the cramp. She hadn't eaten for awhile. Maybe a couple days. She didn't really know. She didn't care. She knew she was malnourished, possibly close to emaciation, but again, she didn't care.

_Everything was hazy. She couldn't really tell what was going on. She had gone out after he left to drink him away. Her senses were numbed. She must have had too much. Must have. But she hadn't drank that much... Had she? _

_Someone talking to her, shaking her. She stumbled at the contact, almost fell. They caught her, dragged her to her feet again. Where did she live, they wanted to know. She mumbled something in response. She couldn't see his face. Too blurry. _

_Darkness. There was pain, pain everywhere, but it was so distant. She didn't care, she just wanted to sleep more. Please just let her sleep... She didn't know what was happening. It was all so damn hazy. So damn..._

She shook her head free and forced herself to sit up. She fished around on the counter before pulling a wash cloth off, then proceeded to wipe her mouth and cheek as she leaned over and flushed the toilet, dropping the lid down, before clutching the rag in her hand as she used the counter and the toilet to pull herself off the floor. When up, she turned the water on cold, dampening the cloth. She turned the water off and began to wipe her face down with the wet cotton, wiping away the dried tears and sweat. As she brought it down her neck she stared at herself in the mirror.

She hardly recognized herself. Where was that strong kunoichi that everyone hated and feared so much? Where was any of that angry and set determination that always flared through her dark teal eyes? Those eyes were now dark gray, set in a more narrow and pale face than her usual strong and tan round one. Her hair hung limp, not as full or wild as usual. She hadn't brushed it in days. It needed to be brushed, and washed well, she could feel it. Her features were drawn and ashen, her skin pale. She looked sickly.

She looked down at her finger for the first time since she cut it. It seemed to have lessened its bleeding. She brought it to her mouth, licking off the dried blood. As always, it was strong, metallic. She slipped the tip into her mouth, prodding at the wound with her teeth and tongue. Blood slid over her lips, a pathetic watery drop dripping just below her lip. She gave the wound one last hard suck before she grinned and pulled it out, running it over the drop, then running it back to her lips and rubbing the crimson over them. She giggled once, her eyes wide. Her reflection unnerved her.

She turned and closed the door behind her, locking it. She wasn't expecting anyone. Kankurou was out of the village on the mission, and Gaara was busy, probably with paperwork or something of the like in his kazekage office. She just wanted privacy, the intimacy of the closed off room.

Staring blindly into the mirror, she unwrapped the sash of her kimono, dropping it to the floor behind her as it fell open, revealing her thin body. Despite the lack of care she had been giving it the last few weeks, and the little she had been eating, she wasn't as thin as she thought she logically thought she should be. Her ribs were barely starting to show through her skin, and her breasts had surprisingly retained their size, if not were actually a little larger. Her stomach was barely any smaller than it had been a month ago when she'd still been a strong, healthy woman.

She shrugged out of the kimono, letting it slide to the floor and pool around her ankles. She took a long look at her body, trailing the palms of her hands and her fingertips over the skin, starting at the smooth skin on the sides of her breasts by her underarms, down to her hips, barely noticing the tiny faded trail of blood her right finger left on the skin it grazed.

She supposed she had a good body. She felt sexy when she saw herself nude, the scars on her breasts from earlier on having faded quite a bit. She was proud of herself for being in shape, and was happy to have curves in all the right places, but she hardly ever thought anything of it. She terrified anyone that might have ever interested her. Even _he_ had been wary of her, having gone so far as to say her craziness reminded him of his mother. Then those times... They always commented on her looks, though she told herself not to listen. So she tried not to think very much about her body. Of course, when she was happy, confident in herself, that never stopped her from flaunting what she had. She knew she looked good, and felt good about it.

She forced herself to look further down, at her inner thighs. She blankly took in the scarring that riddled the tender flesh. They were all old wounds, though they'd never healed over. She sometimes wondered if a medical nin might have been able to do something about them, but she didn't want anyone to know. It was personal, her secret. She hadn't even told _him_ what they were. Besides, now it was probably too late. Many were faded now anyway.

Momentarily, she wondered who might miss her. She supposed her brothers would, but that was everyone she could think of. A brunette with his hair up in a spiked ponytail appeared before her eyes, adorned in Konoha Jounin attire, laying back in the grass staring up at the clouds as he listened to his best friend chomp down the last of his chips. She shook her head angrily before he disappeared. Then the image of a blonde-haired, blue-eyed man with thick prominent whiskers popped into her head to replace him, his eyes flashing from aqua to crimson and back, but then he was gone, too. _If only,_ she thought. It should have been bitter, she knew the thought should have burned her head and make her throat close up and ache again, but now she just felt empty.

She had to do this right. Dry, and the blood would clot quickly. Too quickly for it to do any good. She giggled again at how casual she was thinking about this, but made herself stop before the fits of hysteria took her again.

She shook her head to uselessly clear her mind and turned to the bathtub, turning the knob to cold. She knew that the cold water would make her blood pressure rise, most likely resulting in the blood pumping faster and draining quicker. Again, a smile.

She reached down to the strap at her thigh and removed it, letting it fall to the floor. She smoothly opened her small fan and stared at it for a few minutes, running her fingers along the blade. Her finger had stopped bleeding by now, and left no trace behind on her prized weapon. Anyone else would have been cut up just like any blade by caressing her fan as such, but she knew the weapon inside out. It didn't harm her. Her fans never retaliated against her.

After gazing at it for a few minutes, she smiled and kissed the middle of it before folding it up again and setting it on the counter carefully. She then turned her attention to the kunai she carried along with it. She stared at this item as well for a lengthy amount of time. She found herself staring through it rather than at it. It still had blood on the blade from moments earlier. She ignored it and set it on the edge of the bathtub.

She set the plug and got in.


	2. Blood Savior

Okay guys. I rewrote something in the middle, so I'd appreciate you rereading, if that would be nice. I changed how Temari was found, because, as it was put oh-so-kindly to me, it was "stupid". I personally don't give half a damn whether someone thinks my ideas are stupid or not, but I changed it because my flamer did politely suggest a different approach that I actually do like more than how I had written it in the first place.

Please tell me what you think of the new revision? Just whether you liked it more than the other way please? Also, I'd love any constructive criticism you may have, if it's constructive and helps the story out. I'd also love to hear your suggestions, predictions and the like. Or just whether you like it or not. Thank you ^^

Oh, and PS guys? If you don't like it, you really don't have to read it. I mean, there is this little button up at the top that has an arrow pointing to the left. I'm sure we all know how to use it if we don't like or want the page we're on, don't we? I'm not trying to be rude; I promise. Just placing my opinion. Because really, flames do make me happy. They make me laugh actually.

Disclaimer: Though I would love to own Naruto, sadly I do not. If I did, we all know the story probably would not exist... Rated M for a reason.

* * *

"Konnichi wa, Gaara!"

Gaara looked up as a familiar blonde man barged into the office. He sighed, feigning annoyance, though in all honestly, he was extremely surprised.

"What are you doing here, Naruto?"

Naruto's eyes widened and he pushed his lower lip out subtly, not too much, just enough as he pretended to be hurt. "Gaara! I can't believe you! Oh, it hurts! You forgot about me?!" He threw a hand over his chest dramatically, mimicking a heart-wrenching pain. "I can't believe it! With how close we are, and you actually forgot I was coming to visit? Oh how it hurts!"

Gaara had leaned back in his chair, his arms crossed patiently as he waited for the blonde to finish. "Tsunade gave you time off, didn't she?" he stated knowingly.

Naruto grinned. "Hehe, surprise!" he laughed. "Yeah, bachaan let me go. I think I was getting on her nerves again, or something like that."

"Really? And what would make you think that?"

"The fact that she said I was getting on her nerves again." His grin grew larger, pleased with himself that he could annoy his adopted grandmother like so. "Anyway, she gave me some leave. Something about getting me out of her hair."

"I believe it," Gaara muttered, truly not surprised. Still, he was happy to see his best friend had thought to come see him on his well-deserved – and probably highly needed – time off.

* * *

She supposed she was mind-numb of some sort. She was so calm, so indifferent about what she was doing, as if she were taking a normal bath. She grinned. Just a normal bath.

She closed her eyes, resting her head back against the tub. After a few minutes she opened them again. It was time. She was really going to do it. She was really going to kill herself. Simple as that.

She shook her head clear, ignoring the pain her headache sent rippling through her body. The bath was about half-filled now, and she was shaking. The cold was getting to her quickly. She'd probably die from hypothermia before blood loss. She was suddenly impatient. _Just do it already._

She took a few deep painful breaths, sending herself into another coughing fit from the stress on her lungs. She was shivering more from the cold now. Her whole body was cold, and not reacting well to it. She bit her tongue open from her teeth chattering and swallowed the blood before looking to the kunai again.

She imagined it sneering at her, smirking in triumph. She just smiled sweetly back at it. She picked up the sharp metal and stared at it. She could make out her reflection in it. Her reflection was trembling. No. She was trembling. Her shaking was getting worse.

The water was still running, but she ignored it. She brought the weapon to her wrist, pressing the steel against her soft skin. She sliced before she even thought about it, hard and fast.

The blood billowed before she even removed it from the wound.

* * *

Naruto laughed again. "Well I guess I'll go look for everyone. You know, get settled in and get out of your hair for a little while too."

"You'll only find Temari. Kankurou is out on a Jounin solitaire mission. As for Temari..." He trailed off, then sighed and closed his eyes for a moment. "She's been acting so..._different_ the past few weeks. I don't think I can really understand it. I don't know what to do, how to react. She's been..." The redhead looked at Naruto seriously as he searched his mind for a way to describe how his beloved sister had acted recently. "She's been withdrawn, and getting worse. She's making herself sick."

Naruto took a deep breath. The other twenty-year-old had gotten a fair grasp over things like emotions. But there were still mysteries to him. And he was genuinely worried and – though he hid it well – scared for his sister.

After a minute, Naruto nodded. "I'm guessing this means she'll be home then."

Gaara nodded.

"Alright, I'll go see her. And don't worry; I'll knock so she doesn't try killing me again for another suspected surprise attack," he joked, shuddering at the memory.

"That would be the smart idea, unless you want to die."

"Isn't that the truth," Naruto muttered smiling. "Well, I'm off. It's time for me to beat it, seeing as how you're far too busy for even your best friend." He fake-sniffed.

Gaara rolled his eyes.

* * *

Her flesh opened easily, just as easily as that of any of her enemies on the field. The blood flowed easily, flowing right into the clear water. She gaze fixed on it in fascination. It probably wasn't enough, but it sure was pretty.

She cut again, just as deep, over and over again. The feeling of her flesh shredding must have hurt, should have, but right then she thought it felt amazing. The thought suddenly occurred to her that maybe she was losing her mind. After all, who thought pain felt like this? Well, besides the immortal – what was his name? Hidan? – from the Akatsuki that _he_ dismembered and buried underground. She'd heard some messed up things about him. He'd acted as if pain was like sex for him.

Maybe it really was for him.

The blood all but poured down her arm, mixing in with the cold water. She was probably just imagining it, but it seemed to make the water feel warmer, though her body was now spasming violently from the cold. She was surprised she was even able to make the cuts, though the jerky movement had probably helped make them deeper.

She finally put the kunai on the side of the tub, satisfied with her work. Well, not satisfied, per say, as she thought about it. She just wasn't able to do any more. Besides, it was definitely enough. She glanced down at the bath water, and found herself suddenly laughing hysterically again.

She was literally bathing in blood. Had she really lost that much already? She struggled to think back to the little she knew about the human body, but she couldn't really think. Her head hurt more by the minute. But it didn't really matter anyway.

It was the water, she vaguely realized. The blood had diluted itself into the water, spreading itself about within every molecule of the once-clear liquid, and had tinted it deep crimson. She laughed more. She had just happened to remember that little fact. Her giggles sounded choked. She was about to die, and she was still thinking like an idiot. The thought amused her to no end.

Her laughter slowly ceased as she realized she was genuinely exhausted. She didn't even have the energy for the tired chuckles and snorts of amusement that kept trying to slip out with every other breath. She coughed again. So tired... She closed her eyes, not noticing the water rising higher around her, or the crimson of it growing deeper. At least her body wasn't shuddering from cold anymore.

* * *

"When Kankurou gets back from his mission, let him know I'm here. And don't forget me this time, " Naruto teased as he pushed himself away from the door and made his way to the window.

"Just get out of here," Gaara waved him away.

He rolled his eyes at his friend as he perched himself on the sill in his normal fashion. "See ya later," he waved, leaping into the air.

Gaara merely shook his head before returning to his paperwork.

Naruto made his way through the city, leaping from rooftop to rooftop. It had been awhile since he was last here, and it showed by the sweat that dripped from his hairline and moved down. He adjusted his hitai-ate to catch it better and wipe at the rest of his face, his hand coming back wet. Sometimes he wondered how the hell these villagers handled living in a desert.

As he neared the apartment Gaara shared with his siblings, his nose twitched. There was a mineral scent in the air, and it was getting stronger as he moved closer. It smelled familiar, though he couldn't quite pinpoint the source. He shrugged it off, almost to his destination.

It was when he reached the apartment that he realized what it was, and exactly where it was coming from. It was blood, and a lot of it.

His hand found itself in his weapon's pouch, pulling out a kunai. He gripped it close to his chest as he put his head against the door. He couldn't hear anyone inside, couldn't make out anything but a faint whirring, like water running. He narrowed his eyes in confusion.

He knocked on the door. Nothing. No reply, no sound of a surprised enemy trying to flee or the like. He knocked again, more frantically this time, yelling, "Temari-chan? Are you in there?"

He found himself growing more worried by the second. He knocked one more time, yelling her name again, before deciding to knock the door down, sending it to splinters instantly.

The smell was stronger inside, as was the sound he'd heard, which now he knew for sure was running water. He could almost taste the blood, and recognized the icy trace of wind-based chakra in it. Wasn't Temari a wind user?

He growled to himself suddenly. He knew exactly what he was smelling. She couldn't have. Wouldn't have.

Couldn't.

He ran the familiar path to the bathroom. Water seeped from under the door. Red water. "Temari, damn it!"

He found this door as well. He snapped the knob off and pushed – rather, slammed – the door open, and raged at the sight that greeted him. He was grateful that he and Kurama were no longer enemies, as he knew this was just the thing that would set him off enough for the demon to take control and go on a rampage.

"Temari!" He ran to the bathtub, tripping on the wet clothes she'd discarded in the middle of the floor. He dropped to his knees beside the tub, not noticing the bloody water soaking into his pants. "Oh, Kami no," he whispered.

The tub was spilling over from the scarlet-colored water, her kunai still sitting on the porcelain, water flowing past as if it were nothing. The water was dark enough that, though she was obviously naked, all that was visible was that above water. But her skin above water, that of her face, neck, shoulders and knees, was deathly pale, a fragile papery white. Her usually tanned skin was gone. She looked nothing like the person she was before. In his mind she was already gone.

Remembering she was right-handed, he quickly pulled her left arm out of the water and inspected what was left after her self-mutilation. Her flesh was solid ice. Cursing and holding her arm up, he stopped the water and pulled the plug. Grabbing a towel that was hanging from a towel rack beside the bath, he wrapped her arm, applying what pressure he could. Reaching for another, he began to pull her out of the water, and used it to cover her body. The blood-water was still running off her skin, leaving tracks of dark along the blood-stained skin of what was previously submerged. It slowly dripped from her body to the floor as he rushed her into the living room and laid her on the couch.

"Shit!" he cursed. The towel he'd wrapped around her wrist was already soaked red, and dripping. He ran to the bathroom and grabbed another, wrapping it around the first and applied pressure to her forearm with his hand. She'd lost way too much blood. Too much. There was no way –

_Think!_ he yelled to himself. What had Sakura-chan and Tsunade taught him about medical ninjutsu. The Hokage had wanted him to do something useful with his limitless chakra, so she had started training him as a medic nin when he'd had spare time. His chakra control was excellent, and he had gotten the basics down on it easily. _Teme!_ He cursed himself. He hadn't thought the medical training had been that important, and had spent his time doing stuff like trying to learn new jutsu and sparing, usually with Lee. He genuinely thought he needed to hone up on his ninjutsu and perfect his taijutsu, as nothing could be done about genjutsu for him. But if you asked him now, it was his brain that had needed the training, not his body!

Taking a deep breath, he kept the pressure up on her arm while he carefully removed the bloody towels. He tried remembering the tip Sakura-chan had told him for channeling and transforming the chakra for use, but he couldn't. Something about, what was it, focusing on the other person's chakra, somehow threading it together with your own... But how? He couldn't remember! "Son of a bitch!" he whispered to himself. "Baka!"

"_Kit," _Kurama's voice echoed through his thoughts. _"I might know a few things of healing from my day. Would you mind?"_

Naruto wasted no time. Kurama had been the definition of hatred and malevolence before, but if he was offering, it was not a time to question.

The Kyuubi took over. Naruto felt the chakra change immediately. The demon set to work, moving fast enough that Naruto struggled to keep track of what he was doing. But he wasn't about to ask him to slow down. It wasn't exactly a step-by-step learning opportunity here.

Temari's self-inflicted wounds were taken care of quickly, the wounds closed successfully, though the scars were thick and messy. She hadn't cut very straight for most of them. The fox continued over her body, inspecting it for more wounds, and hesitated once over her lower abdomen, but set back to work quickly enough that Naruto didn't question it. It was when her towel slipped enough from her thighs that Naruto gasped, this problem visible to him right off.

"Oh, Kami," Naruto whispered. Well, these explained a lot.

Kurama moved back to her stomach, moving the towel from the flesh. He ran his chakra over it again, this time to show Naruto what the blonde had missed the first time.

"Fuck," was all he had to say.

He summoned a clone to send to the Kazekage before gathering the towels around her the best he could, trying to cover her modestly before picking her up again. Then he was off.


	3. Begining

I totally could have had this out much sooner, if not for my boyfriend and ADD. I was probably halfway through it, when he wanted to watch High School Of The Dead - great anime, btw. Then when he took his before-work nap - he works graveyard - I did more. Then after he left for work, I found myself searching the internet for new TemaNaru pics, then KibaNaru - don't ask, please - then bounced around the walls of the web before finally deciding to finish. And because of my procrastination, I vowed to finish before I let myself pee! Good thing I didn't have much left hehe. Yes, I know that's bad for you, whatever.

Anyway... Here it is, Chapter Three rewritten. Let's hope writing the new stuff is as easy as rewriting the old. I noticed I've gotten new followers since rewriting the new chapters, and I really hope you reread this one, as it is much different. Well, not much, but whatever. It's different. I'm changing my original plot around and tweaking a bunch of stuff. So please read and lemme know what you guys think of the changes. Pretty please with a little NaruTema on top? I mean, come on, isn't that why you're here?

Thanks to my old followers for sticking with me, if you bothered to that is, and thank you to my new followers for trying me out :) Thank you for the new reviews, as well. Also, please check my profile after this, since I'm now going to go update that and update my story status. Please enjoy and review! Thanks!

**Sidenote:** Revised a little bit. Nothing big, just spelling, grammar, etc. Stuff I missed the first time. Please let me know what else I missed, as I'm sure there are still a few mistakes in here.

* * *

Temari found herself choking, coughing harshly. She tried to sit up, but a firm hand at her collarbone gently held her down. She continued coughing, her mouth dry and her throat raw. As it began to die down, she felt a glass pressed to her lips. She opened her mouth, cool water pouring into it. She swallowed painfully, a cool drop slipping past her lips as the glass was pulled away.

"Sorry," a male voice mumbled.

She licked her lips clear of the water and forced her eyes open painfully. Her vision was blurry and it took her a second to focus. When she finally could see clearly, her eyes widened when she saw the owner of the voice and hand on her shoulder.

"Na-Naruto?" she questioned, thankful to the water that kept her voice from sounding too hoarse.

"That's my name," he smiled at her. "Don't go wearing it out," he joked softly. He removed his hand from her shoulder. He was still holding the glass of water.

Temari looked around at her surroundings, a small pit of dread forming in her stomache as she took in the cracked stucco walls and the medical equipment around her. She slowly realized she was in a hospital room. She groaned. She hated hospitals, and did everything she could in her power to avoid them. In fact, the last, and almost only time she'd been here was when Kankurou had been poisoned by Sasori. She had no use for hospitals.

Kankurou. Memories flooded her senses, so many, so fast her head pounded from the bombardment, as if it didn't already hurt enough as it was.

She looked down at her arm and flinched. Where she had mutilated herself there were a series of ugly scars, uneven, jagged things. Only the one she recognized as the first was a straight clean one. Above the scarring, set at her elbow joint, was a thick straw dripping IV fluids into her. Red fluid was backing up into the line. She wondered about it, but didn't bother to ask.

She looked back up, only to see Naruto giving her a hard look. He was obviously ticked. _Mood swings much?_ she wondered.

She cringed. "What?" she demanded, knowing she sounded bitchy and didn't really care. She tried glaring him down, but he didn't even notice.

"Why, the _hell _would you even _think_ about doing that to yourself, let alone ACTUALLY DOING IT?!" he yelled. His lips were curled in a snarl, revealing sharp canines.

She almost flinched again, but steeled herself. She didn't have to explain herself to him. It wasn't his damn business anyway. "What the hell does it matter to you what I do?" she growled, but it didn't come out as harshly as she'd meant it to; rather it was said in a low whisper, the knot in her throat preventing her from speaking louder.

"What's the hell does it matter to me?" he snapped. "What it matters to _me_? I come to the village on my time off to visit you and your brothers, and the second I get here all I can smell is your blood so I have to go rushing off to find you in a bathtub bleeding out like a stuck pig, and you ask me what it matters to me?!" He stared at her, straight in the eye. She saw a flicker of something, but then it was gone. Anger? Sadness? Fear? All of the above? His gaze softened as he looked down, now avoiding her eyes. "I'm the one that found you, Temari-chan," he repeated in a whisper, all heat from his previous anger gone now.

She didn't know what to say. Finally, wanting to avoid the subject, she settled on a topic. "Why are you here?"

"If you don't want me here, I can just leave." He stood up, apparently seriously intent on the action.

"No! I mean, why are you here, in Suna? Why aren't you in Konoha?" She made sure she was clear that time, that she made sense. "I didn't know you were coming."

He snorted. "That's obvious. I'd like to think this wasn't a welcoming present." He Indicated her arm as he spoke. His sarcasm wasn't lost on her. "As I said, I have some time off. Tsunade-bachaan gave me a wee. I didn't think there was any point sending you guys a message telling you I was coming, since I'd have gotten here before it did, so I just came." He stared at her pointedly for a second before adding, "It's a damn good thing I didn't, otherwise you'd have probably waited 'til I left, wouldn't you?"

She had no answer to that. He was right, after all. She remained silent, staring at her scars. After a few minutes, she quietly asked, "Why?"

"Hm?"

"Why did you do it?"

He was clearly confused. "Why did I do what? Come here?"

She shook her head. "No. Why did you...save me? I know it's a stupid question, but..."

His glare was back. "You're right. It _is_ a stupid question. Do you know how close to death you guys were?" he demanded.

She blinked at him, her turn to be confused. "What?"

"What do you mean, what?" he growled. "I think I was pretty clear."

"Guys? Plural? What does that mean?"

His eyes widened. "You...you don't know?"

She stared him directly in the eye. "What is it you're not telling me?" she pushed. A pit began to well in her stomache.

He opened his mouth to speak as the door opened. A woman clad in the traditional full body white medical nin uniform that was standard issue of the Sunagakure medical unit strode in, not waiting for an answer to the door. "You're awake," she observed abruptly.

"I hadn't noticed," Temari muttered at the obvious statement.

The medic ignored her as she inspected the remaining fluid in the IV drip beside her bed. She looked Temari over, ignoring the girl's wince of pain as she roughly threw her arm around, the straw digging deeper. "I think it may be a good idea to put you on one more bag. You're still extremely malnourished. That's not good for a woman in your condition. You're lucky we had enough units in your blood type, you know," she lectured, oblivious to the dirty look she was receiving from the blonde patient.

"And I care about that _why_ exactly?" she growled._  
_

The medic stopped in the middle of her performance to give her own dirty look. "You should care. We had to pump nearly five units of blood into your body. That's more than forty percent of your body's blood, the amount in which the human body can no longer compensate–"

"Hey, I didn't ask for a medical lecture," Temari interrupted irritably.

Naruto laid a hand over her free one. "Please just listen to what she has to say." He glanced between the two woman, not wanting to be the one to break up a cat fight. Especially not one involving Temari and her doctor, whether she was injured or not. He felt that on her end it would be more than just a simple cat fight.

The medic nodded to him in thanks. "What I was getting to, is that we had to give you a unit more than we expected due to your pregnancy."

Temari's breath hitched. As she struggled around the shock, she choked again and went into another coughing fit. This one didn't last nearly as long as the rest, and was quickly soothed by the water Naruto supplied. When she could breathe again, she looked at the older woman. "What was that?" she asked tentatively. She hadn't heard right. Just a misunderstanding.

"The human body on average has approximately six quarts of blood, and during pregnancy, that amount can increase by thirty to fifty percent, though it's too early for that kind of–"

"You misunderstand the question," Temari interrupted again. "And I must be misunderstanding what you're saying. You're not implying that I'm... that I'm pregnant, are you?"

Her eyebrows raised. "But of course that's what I'm saying. You're pregnant. You didn't know?"

The world seemed to stop for the blonde. A delivery man may as well have just stepped into the room asking her to accept an order before the ton of bricks was dropped on her head. Pregnant? There was no way. Now way. It couldn't be. _Please don't let it be..._

"I think you're going to have to give her a minute," Naruto told the medic.

She nodded, falling into a newly polite demeanor. "Of course." She set about finishing her work quickly, changing the nearly empty fluid bag for a fresh one, then bowing to the two. "I'll let your brothers know you're awake," she said as she moved to the door, then closed it softly behind her.

That snapped her from her daze. "Brothers?" she questioned, looking for a way to forget the sudden bomb that was dropped on her. "But Kankurou's not due back from his mission until Tomorrow."

"Correction," Naruto told her. "Kankurou got back from his mission two days ago. Today's Monday."

"Monday? But it was..."

"You've been unconscious for three days," he explained, carefully watching her reaction. "The doc just told you so; you lost a blood. If I took any longer getting to you, you would be laying in your own personal hole in the ground right now," he told her emotionlessly.

She was about to make a comment about how she would have been better off hugging the dirt anyway, that everyone would, when the door flew open, cutting her. She wasn't annoyed this time though, as it was her brother's rushing in.

Kankurou ran to her, without missing a beat, and she found herself in an embrace. She winced from the sudden pressure on her chest and the movement her IV'd arm made, but held it back. When he pulled back she saw his face was clean of his paint markings, though a few spots of skin had purple smears across them, as if he hadn't looked in the mirror when he wiped it off, and the paint and liner around his eyes was smeared. She took a glance down to his hands and saw faded purple and black smearings on their backs. Crying? Had he been crying?

"What the fuck were you thinking?! Are you stupid?!" he all but yelled at her before hugging her again.

Trying not to choke again as her throat was pressed roughly into his shoulder, she looked up at the door to where her youngest brother was nervously lingering. She might have been imagining it, she did have quite an overactive mind, after all, but it looked as though his eyes were red, a familiar bloodshot. They were eyes she'd seen every moment of her life before Shukaku had been taken from them, but they were different. He didn't have a psychotic glint to them, and they were wet, slight damp spots highlighting the parts of the demon markings around his eyes they rested on. He'd been crying too?

Had she been completely wrong about how they would react?

"They're another reason why," Naruto said quietly. "What would they be going through right now, if I didn't find you, didn't do anything, or wasn't able to?"

Kankurou threw him a quick glance. Temari pulled away from him to stare at the wall, knowing full well what he was saying, and she hated him for it. She knew she shouldn't. What he was saying was probably true. But she hated him for being the one to say it.

"Not just us!" the puppeteer stated. "The villagers, who all look up to you. What about Baki, or Shikamaru?"

She flinched visibly at the name and looked away again, her face expressionless.

"What is it?" Naruto asked her quietly.

"We broke up," she answered emotionlessly.

"He wouldn't have anything to do with this, would he?" Gaara's voice was low, and he didn't bother to hide the hint of murderous scorn that seeped through it.

Temari chose her words carefully. "Maybe a little bit. But he's no longer a part of my life, so it wouldn't matter either way, now would it?" she lied. Her voice was as empty as her words. Sure, he wasn't part of her life anymore. Just part of every waking moment, every dream. _More like nightmare._ She withheld the sob that threatened to wrack her body. She would not cry in front of her brothers, not in front of Naruto.

Naruto stared in disbelief. Shikamaru was one of his closest friends. What the hell had he done?

Kurama's voice suddenly broke his thoughts. _"Remember, kit? Shikamaru never said anything to you about being in a relationship with her."_

Naruto's eyes widened at this piece of information. He glanced at Temari, biting his lip. The kitsune was right. He'd always seen his friend walking the streets of Konoha with his blonde teammate on his arm. He even remembered giving Shikamaru shit for putting up with Ino, wondering how the hell he could stand her. He mentally cursed himself. He should have realized that. If the Kyuubi had decided to sleep away this moment like he always did, he probably wouldn't have even remembered it!

"Did he do something to you?" Naruto questioned, not wanting to give away the secret he had just discovered he had. He thanked himself for being able to contain the growl in his throat.

Temari remained silent for a few moments before finally answering. If Naruto didn't know better, he'd have said she was trying not to cry. "No," she whispered. "Things just didn't work out. It was my idea."

Kankurou's fists were balled tightly, and his teeth were clenched. Gaara remained silent, only the look in his eyes giving away the thoughts that ran through his head. They were quiet, however, giving away nothing more than that. She hadn't admitted to anything, and they had no proof after all. They were going to have to buy this one for now, though Temari knew they weren't stupid.

"_You know she's lying, don't you, Kit". _It wasn't a question.

Naruto gave the slightest nod, just barely the twitch of his head. But his live-in would get it.

"_You know what happened."_

_I have a pretty good idea_, he answered angrily.

"How long are you staying?" Temari asked suddenly, hopeful to change the subject. She was getting good at that.

"I have to get back this weekend," he informed her, giving in to the topic.

"That soon?" Her brain tried registering the fact. "Less than a week..." she muttered dejectedly.

Gaara and Naruto exchanged glances, and Kankurou cocked an eyebrow.

"Well, I can see how soon Bachaan will let me come back..." he said slowly, though he knew the chances of that were slim.

Temari suddenly yawned. The strain on her throat made her cringe and she motioned to the water.

"You need to rest," Gaara stated bluntly as she finished the glass off. She nodded warily, not really paying attention.

Kankurou got off her bed and stretched. "We're down in the waiting room if you need us, alright?"

"You don't have to stay here," she pointed out in embarrassment.

"Why is that?" Gaara asked, his curiosity peaked.

"Because," she insisted. "I'm fine. Nothing else to worry about. Alright?" She managed a fake smile. "Go home."

Kankurou rolled his eyes. "Sure. If you need us, we're in the waiting room."

Temari rolled her eyes, then a thought hit her. "Wait. What about the Kazekage tower?"

Gaara softly smiled. "What about it?"

"Well, does this mean you haven't been there?" She was horrified at the thought. He hadn't been ignoring his work because of her, had he? He couldn't just up and slack off like that! Being Kazekage was too important to do that!

"I'm not worried about it," he informed her calmly.

"Yeah but paperwork, your duties—"

"My paperwork and duties can wait. Baki is in charge, and he'll send for me if anything important comes up." He'd begun sounding bored.

"But Baki—"

"That's how it is, Temari. I realize Baki isn't necessarily my first choice in replacing me, but my first choice just attempted suicide, my second choice has been with me this whole time, and my third absolutely refused to leave this room," he explained simply, an unamused smile gracing his mouth. It was just about a speech for him to say so much.

"Third choice? Naruto?" She questioned as she looked at him.

"Hm?" the blonde looked up at his name. He'd been unusually quiet, seeminly lost in thought ever since Shikamaru had been brought up. She inwardly groaned. He wasn't going to leave the subject alone. She realized she hadn't really expected him too.

"You haven't left?" she questioned, her eyes narrowed in suspicion.

He flustered. "Well, uh, I didn't really, well... I just wanted to make sure you were okay, is all," he defended awkwardly.

She smiled sadly. "You didn't have to. But thank you anyway."

He rubbed the back of his neck nervously. It wasn't every day Temari thanked someone. He wasn't sure how to take the praise.

"Where are you staying?" she asked suddenly, yawning again.

"Well, since you're awake now, I don't know. I'll probably go back to your place now."

"You mean you're not staying in the hospital?"

The question threw him off guard. "If you want me to, I will," he offered.

"I didn't say—" she yawned again, cutting herself off.

He smirked. "I'll take that as a yes."

She scowled, but brightened up immediately at his famous grin, the first since she woke up.

The first in a long time.

* * *

As Temari began falling asleep before their eyes, the men decided to give her some peace and quiet. Naruto was reluctant to leave, though he figured she should be okay now, since she'd woken up alright. But he still worried about her, especially after the surprising news she'd just learned of, and wondered if he should tell Gaara. He thought the kazekage needed to know, but didn't really think it was his place. Still...

Just as he decided, Gaara interrupted his thoughts. "Naruto?"

"Yeah, Gaara?" He realized they were alone in the small waiting area. Kankurou had left them, saying something about getting lunch.

The redhead looked uneasy. He was quiet for a minute as he struggled with a way to state his thoughts. Naruto waited patiently, unusually quiet for his normal self.

Finally he spoke. "Naruto," he said again. "Was there any way..." he hesitated, then came out with it. "Should I have known this was going to happen?"

Naruto stared at him sternly. "There was no way to predict this was going to happen, Gaara. She was really depressed, but there was no way for anyone to know she was gonna do this." He stared him in the eyes, daring him to argue. "It wasn't your fault. You couldn't have known."

Gaara nodded slowly, not sure he believed what his best friend was saying.

Naruto sighed at the reaction he'd received before spotting Kankurou over Gaara's shoulder. "It's getting late, you guys," he said as he joined them. "You should head home, get some slee-aahn!" He was cut off by his own yawn.

Kankurou shook his head. "You're one to talk, Naruto. You probably need more sleep than all of us."

The blonde grinned and yawned again. "You're probably right," he agreed, mentally crossing his fingers. He had no intentions of that, not while Temari was still in the hospital. He also knew the brothers had no plans of getting any sleep either.

"You'll contact me immediately if anything happens, Naruto?" Gaara confirmed.

Naruto grinned larger. "Of course!" He wanted to kick himself. He still hadn't told Gaara about Temari's little secret. Probably for the best, he realized. It really wasn't his place anyway.

Gaara turned. "Let's go, Kankurou."

Naruto waved to them as they exited the building before walking the long way back to the Suna woman's room. He opened her door quietly, not wanting to wake her. He smiled at the tranquil look upon her face. The smile faultered, however, as he moved close enough to discover her eyes and cheek were damp. Upon further inspection he could make out the trails her tears made as they moved down her face to disappear in her hair, which was disheveled and spread out below her. Another was welling, threatening to escape her eyelashes. He brought his finger to her cheek, catching it, and gently wiped along her skin, ridding it of the rest. He bawled his hand into a fist as he watched her. Her sleep was silent, and soon the tears seemed to subside upon his return to her bedside.

"Oh, Temari-chan," he whispered. He couldn't tell if it was in anger or simply sadness. He leaned over and kissed her forehead before settling back into his chair, where sleep overcame him just as quickly as it took him to get comfortable.


	4. Disarray

Woot! Chapter 4 already! Progress, finally! Even though I did procrastinate quite a bit, and let my ADD get the best of me at times... Please tell me how it is guys? Reviews very much appreciated. I'd love to sit down at type in a thank you to all my reviewers and followers, but there's over 60 reviews and 111 followers at this current point in time (and I hope those numbers increase!) and I think you just came here to read. Either way, thank you my faithful readers, and let me know what you think of this chapter?

Btw, Chapter 1 and 2 have been revised, chapter 2 quite a bit actually, and some things in this chapter will make much more sense if you read the changes.

Also, I realized I've been forgetting this, but I do not own Naruto, and this story is rated M for a reason. Thank you ^^

* * *

Naruto's run slowed to a short jog, then a walk as he neared his unplanned destination. He was frowning, not wanting to be out here in the middle of the desert while Temari was still in the hospital. Not that she needed him, nor did he need to be there himself, but that wasn't the point. He felt he_ should be _there, especially where this was her last day, and she was due to go home later that morning. He wanted to be with her, not running around the golden grains while she was moping – and no doubt yelling – under the tan walls.

Though he did have to admit that he had thought the way she took to her hospital stay was quite humorous. She'd only been awake for two days so far, and it seemed like forever for her. The doctors actually wanted to keep her longer, just as standard procedure, to "keep an eye on her". But she was so dead-set against staying any longer than she had to that she was making her stay quite troublesome for the staff, and they couldn't wait to get rid of her.

She was just like him in that matter, though it was clear she hadn't spent nearly as much time in hospitals as he had. She seemed to avoid medical attention when possible. Her reasons for wanting out were much different from his own, as well. He had wanted to train, and how was he expected to do that in a hospital bed? She on the other hand just did _not_ want to be there, period, end of discussion, and she made the fact very obvious.

He did have to flinch, however, under the glare he received for a remark that he had made without thinking. He had told her to think of the hospital stay as punishment for what she had done, and maybe she was getting what she deserved. He was lucky he'd said it when the doctor was looking her over again, for all he did receive was the dirty look. It seemed in her book that a small hospital trip was much worse than the most horrible torture on earth. His mistake for not realizing how horrible it was, he'd sarcastically thought. He apparently would not be forgiven soon for his crime of mouth.

Though as horrible as that crime had been, it wasn't the reason he was out in the middle of nowhere running about like a complete idiot sweating like a stuck pig. Okay, perhaps he dramatized the point a pit more so than necessary, but it _was_ kind of true. The real reason he was out in the desert, and not in the hospital by the side of the "imprisoned" woman, was because he'd been ordered to leave. Ordered. By a very large (though only in his mind) _army_ of female staff. They had apparently decided his own well-being needed more than just sitting in a hospital room, glued to Temari's side.

Their opinions, however, may have been a little biased against him. It wasn't as if he were constantly harassing the woman whenever they entered her room. All he did was have a little fun, and try to get Temari-san to laugh a little. That was it. And it worked, too.

They suggested – or rather, forced – that he go out and get some fresh air – and out of their hair. They sweetened the "suggestion" with the promise that the kunoichi would be released from care upon his return, which is where he received a threat by the unwilling bedridden woman to hurry or suffer the consequences. He hoped she could be a little patient, though, as he decided now would be a good time to think.

He was so damn distracted by her. He had plenty of time to sort through things while in that room. There was nothing else to do, after all, especially when she slept. Instead, he found himself too preoccupied to do even that simple task, usually watching her chest move heavily up and down with her breaths – he promised he really was watching her breathing, and wasn't studying her breasts, honest, Kankurou, he wasn't! – or he would be staring at her face, realizing just how pretty she really was – beautiful really; how had he never noticed before? – or found himself overwhelmed with just how happy he really was that she was still alive.

In other words, now was definitely the time to straighten his thoughts out, and oh did it need they need it.

He closed the distance between himself and the small dune he'd been running toward. He dropped to the ground on top of and closed his eyes as he leaned into the hot sand. He closed his eyes, his breathing evening as he relaxed. All he could hear was his pulse thundering in his ears. The sun burned into his skin, pressing its warmth into his eyelids and began to coax him into a restful state.

Finally, as his body calmed down, his thoughts began to form, though he found they were still about her. He wondered why he was so preoccupied with her. He didn't know her very well. Not much better than when he'd first met her. Yeah, he came to visit often, but she'd always been her hard stoic self when she was there, if she wasn't off on a mission somewhere or taking care of other duties. She never divulged any personal information about herself. They could sit and converse, of course, but she rarely seemed interested in what they were talking about. No, not uninterested, per say, more like she just didn't have her mind on it. But he'd always admired her. He knew if there was a fight, he'd want to be on the side with her, not against. She was one of the most admirable fighters he'd seen in action, and did whatever she could to succeed. Failure was not an option, not for her.

He shook his head. He was just concerned for her. He had to make sure she would be okay. He couldn't just forget about her, not after that.

Kurama, naturally, had to put his two cents in. _"You've got yourself a little crush on your hands, kit,"_ he joked.

Naruto glared up at the fox from his seat across him in his mind. "Shut up, fuzzball. You don't know what the hell you're talking about. I'm just worried about her, and that's it. It isn't every day I walk in on something like that."

The Kyuubi laughed, a deep rumbling sound that made Naruto's head hurt. _"Don't kid yourself! You care for her." _

"Don't be stupid! Of course I do. I care about all my friends." He snorted and crossed his arms. "You're argument is not valid."

"_Big words, gaki. But you're the one being stupid. When have you found a time you weren't thinking about her?" _He stared down at his host pointedly, a grin revealing his massive teeth. Naruto didn't answer. _"Remember how you reacted to what we learned about Nara, and that little kit."_

Naruto groaned. The kitsune was right. He hadn't gone a moment without thinking about her, and he was actually tempted to run back to the village just to beat his friend up, if not to beat the information out of him about what had really happened, and why, as Temari definitely wasn't giving out any answers. And the kid... It had to be Shikamaru's. Who else could it belong to?

He still hadn't told Gaara about being a future uncle. He really believed it was up to Temari to tell her brothers. It was her business, after all, and he just happened to be in on the secret. But she hadn't told them either. What was he going to do about that?

Besides all that, he still wondered what had possessed her to do such a thing. Had whatever gone down between her and Shikamaru been that bad? He thought – no, he knew – Temari was stronger than that, and wouldn't let something like that get to her. There was no way. It had to be something more. Right?

"Fuck," he whispered. Fuck this whole god damn mess. Things were so screwed up, and he didn't know how to fix them. He could always fix everything. Always. But this? He had no clue how to go about this. In a way, he wished Sakura-chan were with him. She could at least give him some advice. But she was miles away, busy at home, taking care of her own life. He was on his own here.

"Why the hell can't you just sleep all the time like you used to?" Naruto demanded, blaming Kurama for his new irritation. "My life isn't your goddamn soap opera, you know!"

The beast just laughed again before laying his head upon furry arms to sleep once more. Obviously he wasn't going to satisfy Naruto with a trivial quarrel.

The blonde sighed in defeat. It was time to get back to Temari anyway. She was probably in a stand-off with the medical unit, ordering them to let her go home. And knowing her brother, Kankurou was probably sitting in the corner silently laughing at her. Silently, for he wouldn't her to drag him into it.

He'll have to figure things out later. And he would figure them out. He promised himself he would get to the bottom of it, and he never broke a promise.

Things would be flowing so much better if he wasn't so enthralled by her. But he didn't have the slightest idea of how to fix that one. He'd get to the bottom of that too. At least, he hoped so.

Temari stared at the ceiling to her room, the suddenly unfamiliar silence thudding in her head.

Ever since she'd gotten home, she hadn't found a moment alone. Kankurou seemed to keep an eye on her wherever she went, and wasn't discreet about it. He had gone so far as to make her a bed up on the couch – freshly cleaned of blood, of course – in the front area of the apartment, and came out regularly in the night to check on her, even though Naruto had been sleeping out there as well.

He had even been so ballsy as to attempt to follow her into the bathroom. If he hadn't been one of her brothers, she may have seriously hurt him for suspicion of lechery. As it was, she merely yelled at him that she was capable of peeing without him holding her hand, and slammed the door in his face, smiling at the satisfying "thud" that sounded followed by his muffled curse as the door actually connected with flesh.

Naruto was also always there. It seemed someone had appointed his job to annoy her instead of Gaara during his stay. No, that wasn't true actually. As much as she'd like to think it was the case, it wasn't, for she found herself enjoying his company.

At least he wasn't obvious about his true intentions to keep an eye on her, unlike Kankurou, who was so painfully clear about it that he didn't bother denying it the many times she yelled at him for the lack of privacy when he followed her from room to room. Admittedly, it hurt to lose so much trust, and though she wanted to argue it, she couldn't exactly blame them. If it had been Gaara or Kankurou, she knew she would be riding their asses every second she was awake, and probably make sure someone was there to do it for her when she wasn't.

It still annoyed her.

Even Gaara was there. He'd taken to spending most of his time at the Kazekage tower, living in the quarters designated for the kage in the last couple years. But since she returned from the hospital, he could be found coming to the apartment she and Kankurou still shared early in the evening and spend his nights at the kitchen table doing paperwork. Since the Akatsuki had extracted the Ichibi from him, he no longer needed to stay awake in fear of him possessing his body and going on bloody rampages in his sleep. Old habits died hard, however, and when something was troubling him immensely insomnia still got the best of him. Now was one of those times.

She had finally managed to get away from everyone for a few minutes. Kankurou was out – against his will, of course – being forced into her duties as ambassador between Sunagakure and Konohagakure. They didn't think she was ready for the work just yet, and the chunin exams were coming up again. Somebody had to take over the work, and Kankurou knew the job better than anyone else. Anyone else beside Temari, that is.

Of course, Naruto was still in the apartment. He'd been suspicious when she asked for a few minutes alone, but she promised him that all she wanted was time to think. He reluctantly agreed, making her promise again, and warning that he would know immediately if "something happened". To that she narrowed her eyes in anger, though she knew his caution was probably well-placed.

Now that she was alone, she wasn't sure she wanted the privacy. Her thoughts swirled around her mind, unable to settle on just one thing. She wasn't sure what had happened before. She didn't think she was in the right state of mind. Her reflection flashed into her mind, wild eyes and maniacal grin. She shivered, holding herself. Her warm bed suddenly seemed cold beneath her.

And then, what the medic had said, what Naruto had already known. Pregnant. There was no way. She couldn't be, just couldn't.

Oh, but she could.

She folded her arms around herself, her fingernails digging in to the soft skin of her upper arms. It hurt a little, but she dug harder, deeper, hoping the pain would clear her mind. It didn't.

She rolled on to her side, staring intently at her empty wall. Why? Everything was such a god damn mess.

It began to occur to her that maybe she was just a bit unstable. She snorted humorlessly. Yeah. Just a little. She still wanted to do it, after all. Just wanted to grab that kunai again and...

But no. Even if her room hadn't been searched and cleared of any possible weapons by her well-meaning brothers, she couldn't do it again. She had been selfish in the first place, and had known it, too. She still didn't care. She loved her brothers dearly, but right then it wasn't enough.

No, there was a much more complicated reason now. Now, she just didn't know if she could do it or not. After all, now it wasn't just her life at stake.

She hugged herself tighter, finally removing her nails from her flesh. They had begun to cramp from the force, and she knew if she committed any further damage, Kankurou would be riding her ass all over again.

Only a month. Not even. But, it was still a life, wasn't it? She frowned. She'd never put any thought into something like this, as she never planned to have kids, and avoided the issue. Wasn't it still a life? How much had formed so far? Did it even matter?

And the father...

She found herself shaking. She looked down at her pale hands. Her skin still hadn't gotten its original color back. She wondered if it would. She still looked frail, and was weak from her earlier "anorexia", though she was eating now. She had to, or would most likely be force-fed.

Why had she wanted privacy again? To wallow in self-pity? To make herself even more confused? More angry? Her fists found themselves clenching again. She shook harder, the knot in her throat hardening painfully.

She jerked in surprise at a knock to her door. She sat up, unsure to be annoyed with the interruption or thankful. "Yes?"

"Uh, can I come in?" Naruto called hesitantly. "I know you wanted to be alone, but, uh..."

She stood and opened the door to see a nervous Naruto standing in the hallway. He was balancing a small tray with two bowls of... was that _kenchin_ _soup_?

"Naruto? What...ah, what's this?" she inquired, not taking her eyes off the soup. She vaguely noted the other bowl contained – naturally – ramen.

"Oh, I, uh, figured you might be hungry, Temari-chan."

"Kenchin stew?" she questioned. She felt her stomach rumble, and hoped he couldn't hear it.

He grinned. "Well, I knew it was something you liked, since you eat it almost every time I'm here." He laughed nervously. "I tried some when I was making it, and I didn't really like it. I don't like tofu very much... So I'm not sure if it's good or not, but I hope you like it."

She smiled and motioned him into her room. "I know it's not very proper to eat away from the table, but I don't really care," she admitted, taking a seat on her bed, folding her legs beneath her.

He followed her gingerly. "Fine by me," he answered her, setting the tray before her as he carefully climbed on to the bed. He grabbed a set of the disposable chopsticks, separating them as he declared, "Itadikimasu!" before diving into his ramen.

She smirked at his impatience as she picked up the remaining pair and breaking them apart. She said her own quieter thanks before tentatively reaching for a piece of tofu. She discreetly sniffed it, causing her stomach to voice its opinion once more, then popped it into her mouth.

Naruto looked up from his mouthful of ramen to gauge her reaction. When her eyes widened, he forced the noodles down his throat. "Temari-chan?" he prodded nervously. He must have done something wrong with the recipe... He inwardly groaned. Now what was he going to do?

She swallowed quickly as she turned her amazed expression to the blonde. "Naruto, this is delicious! Where did you learn to make it?"

He broke into a grin, his hand finding its way to the back of his neck to scratch at that invisible itchy spot that always appeared when he was nervous or embarrassed. "Sakura-chan doesn't think it's healthy for me to eat ramen all the time, and wanted to show me how to make different things. I was kind of scared it wouldn't turn out right, since she's not a very good cook and I didn't know if it was good or not," he admitted, then sobered. "Don't tell her I said that."

She grinned. "I won't." She took another bite. "This is really good!" she repeated after her mouth was empty once more. She dug in, enjoying every bite.

Naruto watched her, pleased with himself for making something she liked. He began eating his ramen again, his eyes still on her. He was happy to see her eating. She hadn't looked well in the hospital, despite the nutrients they had given her. She'd literally starved herself before her attempted suicide, and it had really started showing. She looked a lot better now. She was slowly getting more color in her skin, and she didn't look so frail or weak. Her face was still thin, and her ribs showed a little through her clothes, but she was coming back. He was happy, especially now that she wasn't just eating for herself.

It was probably still too early for the pregnancy to affect her much, but he wasn't sure. He didn't really know anything about being pregnant. The only pregnant woman he'd ever known was Kurenai-sensei, and he didn't know her that well.

"Naruto?" Temari's voice broke his thoughts.

He shook his head. "Yeah?"

She narrowed her eyes at him. "You were staring at my stomach."

Blunt, as always.

"Sorry," he apologized, shaking his head. He looked back down at his bowl, seeing he'd forgotten his ramen. He took another bite as she waited for him to answer. He chewed slowly for the first time in his life as he struggled to choose his next words. Finally he swallowed and set his bowl down. "When you are going to tell your brothers?"

The question took her by surprise and she set her own bowl down. "What do you mean?" she smiled sweetly, feigning ignorance.

"You know exactly what I mean."

She sighed and hung her head. "I'm not so sure if now is the time for that question, Naruto."

"I know, I know, but they've gotta find out sometime. I think they'll notice when you start gaining all that weight and–"

She glared at him. "Naruto!"

"Sorry, sorry! But still. I think it'll probably be hard to miss." He stared at her seriously for a moment. "Unless... You're not going to–!"

"Don't be stupid! I'm not going to get rid of it, baka!"

He took a breath. "Okay, sorry. I didn't mean anything by it. But I think I still have a point. And what about Shikama–"

"This discussion is over." She picked her soup back up and began to eat again, ignoring him.

"But–"

"I said it's over." She was shaking again. She gripped her bowl and chopsticks hard, too hard she realized as she heard a cracking and felt a splinter shove against her skin. She loosened her grip and readjusted the hold on them before she continued eating.

Naruto sighed and looked back down at his meal. There wasn't much ramen left, but he really wasn't hungry anymore. He contemplated throwing it out, but didn't want to let on she bothered him. Besides, that really would be such a waste of good ramen... He ate anyway, despite the pit that filled his stomach and gave little room to anymore food.

After he'd finished eating, he placed his empty bowl back on the tray. He didn't want to be the one to break the silence, but he still had something to tell her.

"Gaara sent Tsunade-bachaan a message."

She looked up at him from over the rim of her bowl. She had gotten to the bottom of her soup and was in the process of drinking the warm broth. She lowered it long enough to suspiciously ask, "About what?" before returning to the task.

"Well, to see if I could stay a little longer."

She swallowed the last bit and set her bowl down. She licked her lips, though she wasn't sure if she did it to get the broth off them or if it was an apprehensive reaction. She voted on the former. "Well? Spit it out, Blondie."

He tried not to smirk at her impatient statement, or that she was just as blonde as him, even if it wasn't nearly as bright. "She said I can stay another week, under the circumstances."

She swallowed. She should have assumed Hokage-sama would be informed of the situation. It just hadn't occurred to her yet. Yeah. _The circumstances._ She tried to control her face at the thought. She wasn't sure if she would have snarled or grinned again. She didn't know anymore, but she was sure neither would look good in front of Naruto. She forced her expressions to be neutral and nodded at him. "If that's what you want to do. I don't see you why need to stick around here, but the choice is yours."

He frowned at her statement. Did she not want him here? He struggled to keep his own emotions from his face. "If that's the case, I'll go home then." He picked the tray up and left her room, leaving her to stare after him in shock.

That was fine, she decided. Let him go home. She just wished he would take her brothers with him. At least Kankurou. He was really getting on her nerves.

The attempt at nonchalance failed. Her eyes watered, and she held her breath to hold it back. She felt the childish urge to scream or hit something, to throw some kind of tantrum. She suppressed it, shoving the bubbling desire down with the lump in her throat.

She laid down again and rolled over. Let him do what he wanted. She didn't care. Let everyone do what they wanted. Fuck them all anyway.

_She stared at him in disbelief. She hadn't heard him right. "Not working out"? What the hell was that supposed to mean. "The distance wasn't good for a relationship"? Maybe he should have thought of that before he spent three years traveling the distance to come see her during his time off! _

"_I'm sorry, Temari-san. It's not going anywhere. We have separate lives in different villages. It's time for us to go our own ways." He stared at the ground as he spoke, unwilling to look her in the eyes. He shifted uncomfortably. He knew she wouldn't take the news well, and it showed. _

_Well he was right, she thought as she balled her fists. She wanted to cry. It made her mad when she wanted to cry. So god damn mad. She wanted to hit him. She had wanted to hug him, to kiss him, to hold hands with him. Now she just wanted to strangle him. _

_She decided on a more civil, sane approach, surprising both of them. "Just get the hell out of here."_

_His eyes widened in shock. "Wha–"_

"_I said, get the hell out of here. Get away from me, before I do something we'll both regret."_

Naruto looked over at the trembling woman from her place on the couch. It was morning, and she had slept in. Gaara and Kankurou were both gone, leaving him to keep her company. He liked to think of it as such, as opposed to being on "suicide watch".

She whined quietly, clutching the thin blanket around her. Bad dream. Very bad dream. He wondered if he should wake her.

_Hazy, blurry, darkness. Muffled sounds around her, someone half-carrying, half-dragging her. She struggled to keep her footing, but couldn't walk by herself. _

_Thrown against a hard surface. Tried to stay up, but stumbled to the ground. Sudden cold. So tired... A voice, saying something. Something..._

Her eyes snapped open. Her breathing was heavy, and sweat covered her whole body. There was a firm grip on her shoulder, shaking her lightly. She tried to focus her vision, and Naruto came into view. The shaking ceased. His eyes were wide, concerned. She blinked, adjusting to the brightness of the sun beaming through the window behind him.

"Sorry, but you were making a lot of noises. It seemed like you were having a nightmare," he explained, pulling his hand back. "I can let you go back to sleep, if you want."

She shook her head furiously, startling herself. "No, no, I'm fine." She sat upright, rubbing her eyes before looking around the room. She'd overslept, and felt like she was drastically in need a shower.

"Are you alright, Temari-chan?" Naruto asked, his eyes wide.

She stretched, her back arching and arms above her head. She winced at a pang in her stomach and added a mental note not to move that way. She finished her stretch off with a yawn before glancing back at him. "Yeah, fine, fine." She shrugged him off. Standing, she declared, "I'm going to take a shower. Don't try to follow me like my brother, please." She meant it as a joke...sort of.

He grinned impishly. "Oh, I wouldn't dream of it."

"Uh-huh," she responded dryly. She did know who his late master was, after all.

Just moments later, she found herself staring into the mirror. The door wasn't locked; actually the new doorknob that replaced the one Naruto had broken didn't have a lock on it at all. That frustrated her, but nothing could be done about it. At least the repaired front door could still lock.

She realized she was staring through herself, as if she didn't even exist. She focused her vision and looked again. She wasn't as pale, nor frail looking. She knew it would take time to get better, that the damage wouldn't be fixed overnight. But she did look better. Her face was still thin, though, and her eyes were just as drawn. She wondered if she would ever get that weary expression out of them.

Why had she done it? she asked herself again. If anyone had asked her if she would end her life, she'd have told them they were idiots to think such a thing.

She sighed and began to undress. The yukata she'd fallen asleep in twisted uncomfortably in her sleep and stuck to her in places due to her sweat-covered skin. She groaned. She needed to start taking better care of herself. She froze at the impromptu thought. It was a strange thought, given her situation and the events of the past week.

She focused her mind on preparing her shower in attempts to ignore her musings. She ran it hot for a few minutes before stepping in. She leaned her head against the tile along the wall, breathing deeply as she fought a sudden wave of dizziness. It soon passed and she set about washing, tackling her hair first. It took a few minutes, but finally her fingers felt satisfied to discover the smooth coating of conditioner had alleviated the worst of tangles. She let the water run over it for a few minutes to rinse what she could.

She realized she was remembering more and more about that night. She had a huge hole in her memory from it, but she knew she didn't want to remember all of it. After all, it was fairly obvious later on what had happened. She didn't want it to come back to her.

She knew it would though.

_It was a deep voice, rolling over her in waves. Strong hands, an iron grip on her jaw, making her look up. She blinked. His hair, dark, maybe. Too blurry to tell. Had he been talking to her the whole time? Maybe, but the words...too much to focus on._

She blinked away some water that had gotten in her eyes. No, not water. She squeezed her eyes shut against the uninvited tears. _I'm not crying._ After all, it was impossible to tell under the running water.

Her pulse quickened and she struggled to take deep breaths. She felt disoriented again, and thought to pull the curtain enough to give herself fresh air. Just as the idea crossed her mind, however, her knees buckled and down she went, her vision darkening.

She opened her eyes what felt like seconds later to the water turning off and a worried voice calling her name. She blinked up for the second time in ten minutes at Naruto. He was clearly disturbed.

"Temari-chan!" he gushed in relief. "Are you okay?"

She nodded, dazed. "Just got a little dizzy," she managed. She was still breathing heavily and definitely wasn't ready to get up yet. Her shoulder ached where she'd absorbed the impact of the fall, and she knew she would have a bruise on the flesh of her hip and thigh. She'd landed on her side, somehow managing to avoid her head. She rolled over, moving from laying on the sore spots to her back, groaning with the effort. The hard fiberglass that now lay beneath her back felt oddly comfortable, and seemed to help regulate her breathing.

He frowned. "The heat like that isn't good for you, especially in the condition you're in."

She rolled her eyes at his concern. She probably wasn't even far enough along for it to affect her. Moron, she thought, though it didn't contain the irritation she had intended.

It suddenly occurred to her the situation they were in. Her eyes widened in embarrassment and she covered herself, one forearm across her bust with her legs crossing awkwardly. She used her free arm to help herself into a sitting position and forced the blush from her face, settling on a reaction that was more annoyed than flustered. "What did I tell you about following me in here?" she demanded heatedly.

The reaction was instantaneous. It was as if he hadn't even noticed her naked body in front of him, and suddenly _bam_! There she was. His face reddened immediately and he threw his hands in front of himself in defense, his head shaking furiously. "I just heard you fall! I promise I wasn't trying to – I mean, I–"

She sighed, letting it out in a loud huff. "Just get out already," she ordered.

He froze in his antics, still kneeling beside the bathtub. He seemed to forget the previous awkwardness. He was all serious now. "I'm not leaving until you get out and get dressed."

She glared at him. "What kind of perverted–"

He cut her off. "You just passed out in the shower, and you're crying, Temari. I ain't leavin'." Straight to the point, even dropping the suffix on her name in his abruptness.

She stared at him in shock. "No, I'm not!" she denied immediately. "I was showering; it's just water!"

"No it isn't."

She bristled, ready for a fight. "I am not crying." There was no way he could tell tears from water, not in this situation!

"Whatever." He stood up and grabbed her towel. "Just get out," he commanded before throwing it at her, it landing over her face and chest.

She furiously pulled it down to see his back turned. "Fine, but only because I'm already done," she informed him huffily, not wanting it to look like she was just giving in. She hated being told what to do, and she was going to let him know it. She got to her knees and used the side of the tub to help herself up, not trusting her body not to fall again just yet.

"I'm staying, by the way," he said suddenly, just as she was thinking about making another snarky comment.

She looked at the back of his head, towel on its way to drying her hair. "What was that?"

"I'm not gong back to Konoha. Not yet anyway. I'm staying that extra week Bachaan gave me."

She fought her features even though she knew he couldn't see her. She allowed a small triumphant smirk to grace her lips before forcing it away. "Do what you want," she responded, feigning the same indifference from yesterday.

He snorted. "Say what you will, Temari-chan," he told her smugly, grin clear in his voice. "I can still see your face. I saw the smile you just gave me."

Her eyes narrowed, the actions of drying her hair coming to a halt. "Excuse me?" she drawled, eyes moving to the mirror where she could see his reflection. Of course, she realized. The angle probably allowed him to see her. She scowled. "And what else can you see, Uzumaki Naruto?" she scolded.

He stiffened, realizing his mistake. "Nothing, nothing at all. I see nothing, I promise." To clarify the point he put his hands over his eyes, though she could swear she saw the sweat breaking out on him under the pressure.

She sighed for the umpteenth time, wrapping her towel around herself. She carefully stepped out of the bath, an arm out for balance. She found she just didn't have the will nor energy to punish him. "I hope you like what you saw, because it's the last view you'll be getting," she growled as she bent down beside him to pick up her discarded yukata before walking past him through the door he'd left open in his earlier panic.

He laughed nervously. That was a close one, he thought to himself. Too close.

After collecting himself, he walked out of the room after her to see the door to her room closed. He smiled to himself. Despite her obvious irritation with him, he knew he pleased her by staying longer. With that thought in mind, he made his way to the kitchen, his stomach informing him he was in dire need of some ramen. He'll make something for Temari-chan to eat, too.


End file.
